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How Energy Efficiency is Adding Jobs in St. Paul, Minnesota

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Saint Paul, Minnesota is using an energy efficiency grant to provide commercial retrofits that will allow a local produce distribution company to dramatically reduce its energy costs and add dozens of new workers.

MR. : The stimulus package is definitely working. I mean, it is creating jobs. The biggest thing is that people have to take advantage of what’s there. J&J Distributing is located in the heart of St. Paul, about a mile from the Capitol, in an area called Frogtown. And Frogtown is an area that, quite frankly, needs job creation. It needs to have a stimulus. And J&J Distributing is here to do that by creating those jobs.

MR. : The EECBG grant was used to help J&J Distributing put in energy-efficient lighting, replace about 44 energy-inefficient coolant systems throughout their facility and really change how they do business. So they’ll save $175,000 a year in energy costs. They’ll be able to expand their operation, which will create another 150 jobs at their facility and really helps us, as a city, reach our goals of being an energy-efficient, sustainable community.

MS. : St. Paul is a really great example of the basic approach to looking at your energy costs and trying to reduce them by energy-efficient appliances. In this case, the refrigeration is a great example. And it’s something that’s replicable with businesses all over the country. And when they reduce those costs, that gives them more money to expand and create other jobs.

MR. : The St. Paul Port Authority created a program in conjunction with the Minnesota legislature, the U.S. Department of Energy, Xcel Energy, the city of St. Paul, to provide energy retrofits to existing businesses within the Xcel service area and the city of St. Paul.

The energy savings that those businesses achieve improve the businesses’ bottom line. So anything that we can do to help a businesses’ bottom line is extremely important. The other benefit is obviously the major reduction in energy consumption and our reduced carbon footprint as a result of the program.

Finally, we are creating and retaining existing high-quality jobs in the city of St. Paul. So it’s a win for the environment, it’s a win for the businesses and it is a major win for the employees here in the city of St. Paul.